Wexis
Encyclopedia
Wexis is a humorous portmanteau used to refer to the alleged duopoly
of publishing
conglomerate
s that dominate the U.S.
legal information services industry — namely, West Publishing
and LexisNexis
.
Neither of these companies is independent—they are parts of much larger conglomerates that dominate the entire information services sector. West is owned by Thomson Reuters
, while LexisNexis is a division of Reed Elsevier
.
Notably, these companies dispute the allegation that they are a duopoly; LexisNexis actually sued one company which used the terms "Wexis" and "duopoly" in its marketing literature.
The United States district court
imposed various requirements regarding the companies' operations in a consent decree resulting from an antitrust
inquiry by the United States Department of Justice
under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act
in connection with Thomson's purchase of West Publishing, and West's and Lexis's settlement of various outstanding claims in that proceeding. For example, West was required to license the "star pagination" in its printed reporters under certain terms. Otherwise, lawyer
s in jurisdictions that require citations to all official and unofficial reporters would have to subscribe to both online services to get all the necessary page numbers for citation
s in their briefs. The judge also had concerns about the Thomson and West products ordered to be divested
through a sale to Lexis, primarily statutory
and case law
publications of Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, such as United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition and United States Code Service, but those sales were ultimately approved.
Both companies are known for their aggressive marketing programs in American law school
s. Law students may print documents for free that are obtained through their respective services. Both companies also have programs through which students may earn points (based on their number of searches) that can be redeemed for free gifts.
Wolters Kluwer
is the largest company trying to establish a beachhead against the "Wexis" duopoly; it has taken over offline legal publishers like Aspen Publishing and online legal services like Loislaw, and owns Commerce Clearing House (CCH). However, Wolters has not yet unified its online and offline legal offerings under a single brand (although it has gathered its existing brands under the umbrella of "Wolters Kluwer Law and Business"). Most importantly, Wolters lacks an automated cross-referencing or citation-checking service that can directly compete against Westlaw
's KeyCite or Shepard's Citations
from LexisNexis.
The Bureau of National Affairs
is the best known of the remaining independent law publishing companies. Both BNA and CCH have arrangements with Lexis and Westlaw to publish their content though those electronic services, although they also provide their subscribers web access to certain publications.
Duopoly
A true duopoly is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market...
of publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
s that dominate the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
legal information services industry — namely, West Publishing
Thomson West
West publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West has been one of the most prominent publishers of legal materials in the United States...
and LexisNexis
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
.
Neither of these companies is independent—they are parts of much larger conglomerates that dominate the entire information services sector. West is owned by Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
, while LexisNexis is a division of Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier is a publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, risk and business sectors. It is listed on several of the world's major stock exchanges. It is a FTSE 100 and FT500 Global company...
.
Notably, these companies dispute the allegation that they are a duopoly; LexisNexis actually sued one company which used the terms "Wexis" and "duopoly" in its marketing literature.
The United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
imposed various requirements regarding the companies' operations in a consent decree resulting from an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
inquiry by the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act
The Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 is a set of amendments to the antitrust laws of the United States, principally the Clayton Antitrust Act. The HSR Act was signed into law by President Gerald R. Ford on September 30, 1976...
in connection with Thomson's purchase of West Publishing, and West's and Lexis's settlement of various outstanding claims in that proceeding. For example, West was required to license the "star pagination" in its printed reporters under certain terms. Otherwise, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s in jurisdictions that require citations to all official and unofficial reporters would have to subscribe to both online services to get all the necessary page numbers for citation
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
s in their briefs. The judge also had concerns about the Thomson and West products ordered to be divested
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
through a sale to Lexis, primarily statutory
Statutory law
Statutory law or statute law is written law set down by a legislature or by a legislator .Statutes may originate with national, state legislatures or local municipalities...
and case law
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
publications of Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, such as United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition and United States Code Service, but those sales were ultimately approved.
Both companies are known for their aggressive marketing programs in American law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
s. Law students may print documents for free that are obtained through their respective services. Both companies also have programs through which students may earn points (based on their number of searches) that can be redeemed for free gifts.
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors...
is the largest company trying to establish a beachhead against the "Wexis" duopoly; it has taken over offline legal publishers like Aspen Publishing and online legal services like Loislaw, and owns Commerce Clearing House (CCH). However, Wolters has not yet unified its online and offline legal offerings under a single brand (although it has gathered its existing brands under the umbrella of "Wolters Kluwer Law and Business"). Most importantly, Wolters lacks an automated cross-referencing or citation-checking service that can directly compete against Westlaw
Westlaw
Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West. In addition, it provides proprietary database services...
's KeyCite or Shepard's Citations
Shepard's Citations
In legal research, Shepard's Citations is a citator, a list of all the authorities citing a particular case, statute, or other legal authority. The verb Shepardizing refers to the process of consulting Shepard's to see if a case has been overturned, reaffirmed, questioned, or cited by later cases...
from LexisNexis.
The Bureau of National Affairs
Bureau of National Affairs
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. — known as BNA — is an independent, privately owned publisher of specialized online and print news and information for professionals in business and government, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA...
is the best known of the remaining independent law publishing companies. Both BNA and CCH have arrangements with Lexis and Westlaw to publish their content though those electronic services, although they also provide their subscribers web access to certain publications.